Expression 'I stayed there the whole...'

[Nessie]

Hi,
Which one of these two sentences is correct:

'I stayed there the whole evening, listened to all the lectures and thought I would be able to meet that profesor'

'I stayed there the whole evening, listening to all the lectures and thinking I would be able to meet that professor'

Many thanks
Nessie.
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Conchita]

Except for a spelling mistake in the first one (professor), both sentences are correct.

[Barb_D]

I would put a comma after "lectures" in the first one. That keeps the main verbs "stayed" and "thought" parallel and makes the "listening" phrase a side note.

[Nessie]

Thanks a lot, Barb and Conchita :)
But grammatically, why are they both correct?
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Nessie]

Or what's the difference between them?

Many thanks,
Nessie.
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

[Conchita]

There isn't much of a difference between the two sentences. They are simply two ways of expressing the same thing.